Short-tail nurse shark
Short-tailed nurse shark ( Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum )
The short -tail nurse shark ( Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum ) is a shark from the family of nurse sharks ( Ginglymostomatidae ) and the only way to so monotypic genus Pseudoginglymostoma.
Features
The species attains a maximum length of 75 centimeters, one for 33 years held in captivity individual has reached 70 centimeters. The body is broad and flattened according to all nurse sharks and thus adapted for life on the seabed. The body is dark brown in color and has in the adult animal no drawing on, young animals have a drawing of dark saddles on a light background.
Both the two dorsal fins as well as the anal fin typically set for nurse sharks way to far back on the body. The first dorsal fin relies approximately above the center of the pelvic fins and the beginning of the second dorsal fin and the anal fin are approximately the same height. The pectoral fins are very wide. The asymmetric tail fin has the upper lobe a distinct fin banner. From other nurse sharks, these species can be distinguished by very short barbels, a relatively short caudal peduncle, which accounts for less than 20 % of the total length, and approximately equal-sized dorsal and anal fins.
Distribution and habitat
The short -tail nurse shark lives near the coast in the western part of the Indian Ocean and is endemic to the coast of Tanzania, Kenya and Madagascar, possibly also in the area of the Seychelles and Mauritius.
He lives on the continental shelf near the coast in coral reefs, there are no information about the depth distribution.
Way of life
Over the life of the short-tailed nurse shark only a few data are available in the aquarium hobby. He is nocturnal in captivity, and can survive out of water only a few hours. It feeds probably of ground-living small bony fishes and invertebrates.
Relation to man
The small sharks are classified dangerous due to their small size as for humans.
The shark is comparatively rare and is not targeted by fisheries, but lives in an area with high fishing pressure and its fins can be sold in Tanzania, for example, at moderate prices. He also lives in coastal coral reefs and is affected accordingly by increasing destruction and modification of its habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ), the species according as sensitive ( " Vulnerable " ) on its list of endangered species. In addition, the different populations are probably not connected to each other so that the continental African population also has only a very limited area of distribution.